Difference between revisions of "Metadata"

Revision as of 23:04, 11 March 2021

Metadata, specifically the metadata of digital content, can broadly be defined as “data about data”. More specifically it is the collection of information that helps to summarize the history and current state of various forms of digital information including but not limited to: email, cellular phones, social media accounts/posts, any digital file, and software applications.^[1] Metadata is often created as a direct result of viewing and creating other data^[2], and is often done so implicitly and without the knowledge of the user. Metadata enables many of the features that users see in the programs, however it potentially comes at the cost of data privacy^[1]. New methods of automatically scraping metadata could unknowingly put users data at risk, and there is still no clear consensus on what to do about it or where the law stands on the issues.^[3]

What Metadata Is

What Metadata Includes

Collection

History

Ethical Implications

Implications in Law

Implications in Privacy

How it is Addressed

See Also

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "Is metadata collected by the government a threat to your privacy?" TechRepublic. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
2. ↑ "Explainer: what is metadata? Should I worry about mandatory data retention?" Guardian. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
3. ↑ "The Ethics of Metadata Mining: Ethics Opinion 665 Raises More Questions than Answers "Martindale Legal Library. Retrieved March 11, 2021.